A few weeks ago I wrote about a very special young couple who turned to Union Rescue Mission for help just as they were expecting their first child. Days before their baby was due this couple lost their home. When they came to us, all of our rooms were full and our beds occupied.After hearing the news that a young couple expecting their first baby had arrived in need, I asked our staff to make room however possible.We placed an EDAR unit, a pup tent like structure, in a conference room on the 5th floor.We made room.
Making room is what we have been doing since the economic crunch came in October of 2008.Soon after that we saw a tsunami of families, many like this young employed couple, experiencing homelessness for the first time.Our decision last Fall to step up and meet the need rather than cut back on staff and services opened up the opportunity and privilege to welcome this beautiful young couple into URM when they had no other place to go.
That decision also made it possible to welcome the arrival of their precious little girl, Erica, pictured here with Mom and Dad!As I held this precious child and chatted with the elated Mom and Dad, Dad asked me if I would be willing to be a Godparent to precious Erica when she is dedicated at West Angeles Church of God in Christ by Bishop Blake!I told him I would be honored!Then the young Dad said, “This has been the best year of my life!I found a job, got married, and now have a precious baby girl.Thanks, Andy, for all you’ve done for us!”His enthusiasm and thanks were humbling.
Dad is not only working full-time, but he has asked to come and volunteer with our Gifts In Kind division, calling on corporations and grocers to donate food and other needed items to Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center.Dad has a great desire to bless other guests and give back in some way.
What a joy it is to provide an opportunity for parents to have a safe place to restart their lives and care for their precious children.
At the 2009 Association of Gospel Rescue Missions Convention held in May, Union Rescue Mission was recognized for its media success. In three categories–Blog, Website, and Podcasts–URM was awarded 1st place: Rev. Andy’s Blog for it’s heartfelt perspective and up-to-date posts; URM’s website for its eye-catching appearance and thorough information; Stories from Skid Row podcasts for high-quality production and touching stories through the eyes of homeless men, women, and children.
Just last week I realized the full extent of the way that our URM/Hope Gardens Family Center team has stepped up to meet the growing needs of homeless families and individuals coming desperately to our doors.
We are now averaging 965 individuals per night at Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center, and this is after the Winter Shelters (December 1st to March 15th) closed their doors. This is 400 more people per night since just 4 short years ago! As the funding from the City/County LAHSA for Winter Shelter ran out, we decided to keep 80 men’s cots and 40 women’s cots in operation on the 1st Floor at our own expense. We just could not ask anyone seeking shelter to leave from under our URM roof.
Our meals have grown from 2100 per day just 18 months ago, to nearly 3500 per day! At this rate we will serve 1.25 Million meals this year! It is a bit like the fishes and loaves story from the New Testament because our budget for purchasing food is only $360,000!
As you know, when the economic crunch came last October, two parent families and single dads with children began arriving at our door. Overnight we transformed our 5th floor from offices and rooms for occasional volunteers, to housing for two parent and single dad families. We now have 16 families on our 5th floor with 40 precious children. Of these families 47 percent have never faced homelessness before! The other night we were completely filled with families, and an expectant couple showed up. We placed them in an EDAR (pup-tent like structure) until a room could be found. Their precious baby girl was welcomed into the world just last week.
Some agencies around us have responded to this crisis by reducing costs through staff and service cuts—some by as much as 23%! We had to ask, “If we don’t step up now, who will?” And so, we made a decision to step up and meet the growing need! We have been able to increase services and meet the need not only due to our donors’ sacrificial giving, but also because our URM/Hope Gardens staff has taken heroic measures to care for those with nowhere else to go. Cutting services, letting staff go, and adding to the ranks of the unemployed and potentially homeless was simply not an option. Instead, our team decided to sacrifice across-the-board for the sake of those we are called to serve.
Our staff has taken two 5% pay cuts. The employer match to our employees’ 401K has stopped. We’ve frozen hiring and wages. Though our wages have been reduced, 65% of our staff still signed up as Heroes for Hope, pledging a part of their paycheck each month to support the work and ministry of URM/Hope Gardens Family Center. This is amazing!
We’ve reduced other costs as well. We cut our warehouse costs by $10,000 per month through collaboration with the Salvation Army on a shared warehouse. One of our partners agreed to continue services to our guests without a $9,000 per month reimbursement from URM! We also made some strategic decisions to move to some new vendors who could add to our cost savings by $8,000 per month.
We all did this sacrifice and cost-cutting without hurting the quality of care or love for our guests. A gentleman the other day shared on the radio about URM:
The slogan here is “The Way Home”, and coming into the doors, coming into the building definitely gave me the feeling of, “I’m on my way back.” God is in this building from the basement to the roof, and you can feel it when you walk in. I knew then that I was going to be ok. Getting God back in my life was going to be the only way that I was going to get back the things I had lost. The hope factor in my life has changed dramatically. I now see a goal for myself. I now see a purpose for myself. Since I’ve been here in the program at URM I have gotten a relationship with my family back—with my mother, my grandparents. I’m actually in school at USC. Everything has completely turned around within a matter of months. I can’t do enough for the rest of my life to pay back what this Mission has done for me.
Another program graduate showed his growth here with this letter to us when his folks became ill:
Since February I’ve know that my mother has had cancer. It was my hope that she would improve with the care and prayers of doctors and friends. But that is not the case it appears, as her health has taken a turn for the worse. My mother is now 88 years young and my father is 92 years young. While it is truly a blessing to still have my parents here with me, my father is now suffering from Alzheimer’s as well. Because of my contact with the Mission, my life has changed. The way I think it has changed? My relationship with God has improved and my willingness to help others has grown. God has truly blessed me! I’ve met a lot of good people, a lot of caring people. The program itself allowed me to gain skills I didn’t have before coming to the Mission. As I have learned to respect myself more and think about the choices I have, it all comes back to just plain old giving back to God what God has given me. I’m very grateful to everyone here at the Union Rescue Mission. I will tell anyone and be proud to say so. There is love, understanding and true giving here at the Mission. Downtown in the middle of all the madness, God’s presence is here. I will be leaving for Seattle, Washington Wednesday, May 20th. Please pray for me. Pray for my mother and father. And I will pray for everyone here. This has truly been, The Way Home. THANK YOU!
It is hard for me to describe in words the honor I feel in serving alongside our URM/Hope Gardens Family Team. They are true Heroes for Hope!
Every Tuesday morning URM staff and program participants join together for worship and devotions. Andy B. and praise team lead in a time of musical worship.
·Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! ~Psalm 147:1
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I, whom you have redeemed. ~Psalm 71:23
Listen in to the Frank Pastore Show from 4-7pm today! Hear moving stories from Union Rescue Mission residents, and their journey through the trials of homelessness.
If you ever happen to be near Union Rescue Mission on a Tuesday morning around 9:00 AM, I hope you’ll stop by and join us for chapel. It’s not mandatory but most of our staff and residents feel that the hour we spend singing and praying and opening God’s word together is a highlight of our week.
A few weeks ago I spoke in chapel about my father Carl Bales who went to be with the Lord on April 30th. Growing up during the Great Depression, my father spent much of his childhood homeless. I used my dad’s story to illustrate the extraordinary impact simple choices and decisions we make every day can have on the lives of people we may never meet.
Across the board Union Rescue Mission has seen demand for meals, shelter, and clothing increase to the point where we now serve an average of 3100 meals a day…an increase of 17% from just a few months ago. Without your continuous support, we simply will not be able to meet the increased demand. Every gift large or small makes a difference.
Union Rescue Mission, in partnership with Giving Children Hope and Lindale Assembly of God Church, delivers hurricane relief supplies to needy families in Houston, Texas.
Hurricane Ike hit Houston on September 13, 2008 causing major damage and leaving thousands of people in need of food and shelter. Lindale Assembly of God Church took up the challenge of providing food and shelter to hundreds of people each day after the storm hit the city. Under the leadership of their pastor and his wife, Randy and Jana Meeks, Lindale Assembly of God continues each week to help those people around them who seek their help, and the church plans to continue to help as long as the need exists.
The supplies delivered on April 30, 2009 to help with the hurricane relief efforts included: food, bottled water, toys, over-the-counter medicines, vaporizers, children’s vitamins, body lotions, soaps, disposable razors, and disposable diapers to name a few of the items.
Lindale Assembly of God Church in Houston, Texas.
Church gym where people slept following the hurricane.
Randy and his son Harrison Meeks before unloading supplies in Houston.
As a boy my dad endured through the Great Depression. He traveled on freight cars, lived in a tent in Azusa Canyon, a garage in Compton, another garage in Baldwin Park, and a tin shed in Des Moines, Iowa.
He enlisted in the Army, a paratrooper. He married a beautiful Catholic girl, my mom. I was in my mom’s womb when they heard the Gospel presented in a powerful way. That night my mom and dad walked the aisle, and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. That day my Dad dedicated their unborn baby, to the Lord. I was blessed from even before my first day on earth. What a difference that made in my life.
My dad’s choice to follow the Lord and dedicate my life to the Lord made an eternal difference in my life and the lives of my children and their children.
For 15 years he struggled as a butcher. He then moved to a feed company as a warehouse worker at $2.38 an hour, and worked himself all the way up to Vice President. He then designed one of the first spray washers and launched his own car wash business. He worked so hard to provide for all of us, so that our lives would not be like his when he was young.
When the gas crisis hit the car wash business tumbled, and we lost everything. My dad spent a few weeks, depressed, laying on the couch and contemplating ending his life, until I told him through fearful tears that he was going to have to get off the couch and get going. And he did just that.
He took a job he didn’t care for much, and eventually got a fantastic job. He also lived a more balanced life, and I saw him put in as much effort in church involvement and living for Christ as I saw him put into work. He went on missions trips with me and the youth group. He visited the local Mission and preached at their services, and I went along with him to sing. My faith was greatly impacted by watching him bounce back and live for the Lord.
Proverbs 24:16 (ASV)
16 For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
My Dad endured a lot and set a wonderful example to me of Christ-like perseverance in adversity. He was a good man and I loved him dearly. I will miss him very much.
Over 100 women were treated on Monday, May 4th to a day of pampering including: hair, make-up, nails, new clothing and portraits.
To see portraits of the ladies on Facebook CLICK HERE.
Union Rescue Mission sends a special thanks to volunteers from CAbi Clothing, Rambo House Media, and Love & Unity Church. Thank you also to Photographer Seh Kim from Pacific Crossroads Church. And a second special thanks to CAbi Clothing for donating 800 pieces of beautiful new clothing.
